Monday, 7th February - 06:00 am
Dhoti is quite a simple thing to wear - if you manage to know the trick of making it stay in place while walk, jump or run (and you become a pro from an amateur, if you can make it stay without a belt). Having worn it since the age of 12, I am quite confident wearing it these days (even on a winter morning in france! sigh! that was one numbing experience!). The usual thing to do when you wear a dhoti is to fold it and knot it again so that it stops at your knees and makes moving around a lot more easier. Quite a simple task again - But, it was only this time that someone actually told me there are 'cultural' variations in doing this.
Now, it's difficult for you to understand what i am telling you if you haven't done used a dhoti before yourself. So, when you fold and knot your dhoti - you basically will have two ends - one in your left hand and one in your right. People in tamil nadu put their left end over their right end and then knot it, while people in Kerala do it the other way round. So, this time when I was getting ready for the marriage, people saw me dress and lo! old women dropped what was in their hands out of shock, young girls gasped, old men talked of how the new generation is slipping away and the young men came to my rescue - I incidentally tied it the 'tamilian' way and blew the wits out of my staunch malayali relatives.
My uncle finally remarked that I become a true malayali when I know how to tie the dhoti the malayali way. That's it?? Here I am spending time and money, losing sleep trying to be a true malayali. I could've learnt doing this in bangalore and saved all trouble! Why didn't anyone tell me this before!! I REALLY have to go meet my dad RIGHT now.
- posted by Super Ted @ 9:19 AM